The ‘distressed’ personality, coping and cardiovascular risk

Abstract

Type D (or ‘distressed’) personality has shown success in predicting hard medical outcomes (e.g. morbidity and mortality) in cardiac patients. Little is known about the relationship between Type D individuals prior to disease, or the role that coping may play in individuals with the distressed personality. The present study examined the relationships among Type D Personality, coping strategies, and heart rate variability (HRV) in a non‐medical sample of young adults. Social supportive coping was found to moderate the relationship between Type D personality and HRV. Additionally, as compared to non‐Type Ds, Type D individuals more often relied on avoidant forms of coping, and they less often relied on positive/problem focused strategies or social support to cope. Implications for primary prevention and future research were discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Perfectionism Dimensions and Dependency in Relation to Personality Vulnerability and Psychosocial Adjustment in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

“…Finally, aggression/anger/hostility, Type D negative affectivity, and Type D social inhibition were all associated with depressive symptoms, worry, avoidant coping, and support dissatisfaction; however, only the Type D personality dimensions were associated with lower adaptive coping (problem-focused coping, positive reinterpretation). Thus, maladaptive coping might contribute to the negative outcomes associated with Type D dimensions (Martin et al, 2011).…”

Economic Stressors and Psychological Distress: Exploring Age Cohort Variation in the Wake of the Great Recession

“…Future research can more definitively address both mediating and moderating processes linking social stressors to psychological distress by utilizing longitudinal data to more clearly demonstrate causality. This approach could also assess the potential for bidirectional associations, particularly between the indicators of psychological distress and the coping strategies assessed, given evidence that people prone to distress are more likely to utilize avoidant coping strategies (Martin et al, ). In addition, longitudinal data is necessary to differentiate the salience of age as a developmental stage in the life cycle and age as connoting membership in an age cohort experiencing particular historical contexts or events while occupying a given developmental age (Elder & Liker, ).…”

Relationship between social support and autonomic function during a stress protocol in ulcerative colitis patients in remission

“…Social support is known to moderate stress reactivity in general 23, 24. With respect to HRV in particular, in non‐IBD populations social support moderates or buffers the relationship between psychological variables (stress or distress) and HRV25–27 and variables that are related to social support (social isolation, marital status, attachment style) are also related to HRV in the expected direction 28–31. These studies are inconsistent as to whether social support is primarily related to changes in HRV in response to stress or to tonic differences in HRV (i.e., irrespective of fluctuations related to stress and recovery).…”